Nathaniel’s POV

“Do you both really have to go?” I asked my dad as I handed him another suitcase to put in the trunk with the rest. “I know you have to go, but grandma only has a cold; can’t you talk to mom and make her stay?”

My father sighed and closed the trunk.

“It might do your mother some good to have a change of scenery,” he said in a tone which was supposed to put an end to my pleas, but I wasn’t going to give up yet.

“We move so often; doesn’t she have enough of changing the scenery?”

“You just sounded like your sister,” he pointed out and I had to agree; the snappy tone was exactly what Val would’ve used.

“I’m sorry,” I tried again, “but…”

My father put a hand on my shoulder and leaned down so that our eyes were at the same level; his were brown, just like mine.

“You’ll manage, Nathaniel,” he attempted to encourage. “If anyone can influence Vallery’s decisions, that’s you.”

“But she also influences mine,” I commented and he gave me a sad smile.

“That is because I have two very smart children and they know how to make the other one stick up for them,” he said and I had to smile. I liked it when he complemented Val; it reminded me that despite all their quarrels, he still loved her. “Now go inside to tell your mom we are all set and that I’ll be waiting for her in the car. She might have over two hours before her plane leaves but mine sets of in less than that.”

My shoes squashed as I walked on the path towards our home. The snow that had fallen yesterday was almost melted now, some remnants of it still covering the rooftops, while the earth was full of slosh. It struck me as odd how Val had not complained about that; she loved making snow figures, usually crude and caddish, so she should’ve voiced her disappointment that her working material was gone. Unless she had something more sinister than snowmen with protruding phalluses and big-boobied snowwomen on her mind; something worse than a party with no adult supervision.

“Dad said you are all set for the airport,” I told my mom as I walked in the hallway to see her buttoning her coat.

“Thank you, sweetie,” she said, pecking me on the forehead before taking her gloves from the small corner table we had next to the coat hanger. “All the emergency phones and those of some relatives are on the door of the fridge,” she began, putting on her right glove. “I’m leaving the notebook with the rules and your chore schedule right here,” she added, pointing to said notebook and donning her left-hand glove. “I will be back as soon as I can. If there’s anything you need, talk to Miss. Harris.” She gave me another kiss, this time on my cheek. “Oh, my sweet, sweet boy, I’ll miss you so much,” she exclaimed and I was suddenly in her arms.

“And Val; you’ll also miss Val,” I said once she let me go.

“It will be good to get away from your sister for a while,” she protested and I sighed. Mom patted me on the head and I walked after her so I could wave her goodbye when the car engine roared. Once I was back into the house, I went straight into my sister’s room. I knew she would’ve completely disregarded mom’s rules if she had bothered to read them, but I had to do my best to convince her to at least follow some of mine.

“Vallery?” I knocked on her door. “May I come in?”

“Sure,” she shouted from inside and when I entered I saw her lying on her stomach on her bed, an opened magazine in front of her. She grinned at me and got up, meeting me halfway.

“You have a plan,” I sighed, noting the enthusiasm on her face.

“I have a plan,” she confirmed with a nod.

“And I’m not going to like it,” it wasn’t even a question; I just knew I wouldn’t.

“You are going to enjoy it if you loosen up,” she protested. “Are you ready to hear it? Maybe you should sit down,” she suggested, pointing at the chair in front of her cluttered desk; it was laden with all sorts of magazines, make up and accessories, not a notebook in sight.

“It’s that bad?” I groaned, moving to sit sideways on the chair. She followed me and stood right in front of me.

“We,” she made a dramatic pause, “are going to Vegas.”

I gaped at her, musing over what she meant. She couldn’t possibly mean Las Vegas as in the famous town of sin; we were underage. Maybe there was a club in town with that name.

“What?” I asked.

“We are going to Vegas,” she repeated. “You know, a city in the state of Nevada, famous for its night life and gambling.”

I laughed and shook my head.

“Seriously, Val, what are you planning?”

She didn’t bat an eyelash as she stood before me, her arms over her chest.

“What?” I repeated in a shrill tone and shot up from my seat. “We can’t go to Vegas, Vallery.”

“Why not?” She uncrossed her hands and waved. “Mom and dad aren’t here to stop us.”

“That’s… You…” I pointed a finger towards her, not sure what I wanted to say. Of all the things she could come up with! “It’s illegal for minors to even enter casinos or hotels with casinos – which in the case of Vegas means all hotels – without adult supervision.”

“That is if we are minors,” she noted calmly.

“Vallery, we are minors.”

“Not according to the ID-s I got us for our birthday,” she pointed out and my jaw dropped again.

“You want us to go to Vegas with fake ID-s?” I asked lowly then my voice rose far beyond its usual volume. “You want us to go to Vegas – the place which probably had the strictest laws for under age people – with fake documents? No! No, Vallery, this is not going to happen. We will be breaking so many laws; not some school regulations, laws!”

“Relax, bro! The guy who did our ID-s is a genius; no one could tell the difference,” she tried to reassure me but no matter how much faith she had in her friend, her words brought me no comfort at all.

“Val, Vegas is a whole different level; it’s not like the local clubs,” I attempted to make her see reason.“You’ll need a masterly-done fake ID for there. Not to mention lots of money for travelling, registering at a hotel, to buy food…”

“That’s already paid for,” she grinned. “I got our tickets and arranged our stay with included breakfast…  Got to love online reservations!” She began to babble merrily. “We’ll still need to buy lunch and dinner though… Oh, and we better take some money to spend on games and for souvenirs…”

“Vallery…” I began slowly. “Where did you get the money from?”

“Since I used almost all of my cash on the ID-s, I took them from your saving account,” she shrugged.

“You what?” I shouted and my heart rate went crazy; even my head was throbbing.

“I’ll pay you back,” she replied simply. “You won’t need that money until you go to University anyway so I’ll have plenty of time.”

“That is not the point!” I kept screaming at her. “You took my money, without my permission, to pay for something you know I would object to!”

“What are you going to do? Tell on me?” She asked with a snort.

That was almost the final straw. I was really close to dialing mom or dad and have them back here right now. But then what?

This was something big, not a childish prank they could overlook or take away her phone as punishment. What if they sent my sister away?

Perhaps it would be for Vallery’s own good, but I doubted it would make her change. The only thing that would be different would be that I wasn’t going to be there to keep an eye on her; who knew what she would come up with then?

No. It was best that I kept quiet and tried to dissuade her from going.

“I won’t tell on you,” I sighed and sat back on the chair, exhausted. “When do you plan for us to leave?”

“Tomorrow after school.”

“That soon?” I exclaimed and ran a hand over my face.

I had to think of something and fast!

Val took a step towards me and leaning down, she put her hands on my shoulders. She adopted a serious expression before she spoke:

“You might not see it now, but I’m actually doing this for your own good.” She then grinned, not a trace of solemnity left. “Well, the road trip anyway; I’m choosing Vegas because I REALLY WANT TO GO TO VEGAS!” She screamed the last part and giggled, letting go of my shoulders and jumping up and down as if she had a set of springs glued to her feet.

I shook my head and bit my lip as I did my best to think of a way to change her mind, but I couldn’t come up with anything. The only thing I could do was to call our parents but I’d already ruled that out. So what could…

“What about Betty Harris?” I asked, a sliver of hope warming me up from inside. “She’s supposed to watch us while our parents are gone; don’t you think she’ll contact them if we were to disappear for days?”

“Hunter’s got that covered,” Val waved her hand, dispersing any thoughts of getting out of my predicament. “This is going to be the best weekend ever,” she went on, her blue eyes shining with excitement. “The three of us are going to have the time of our life.”

“Three?” I repeated, realizing I might be facing yet another threat. “What do you mean three?” I asked although I had a pretty good idea who she had in mind.

“You, me and Hunter Harris,” she grinned. “You didn’t think I’d leave behind my new best friend, did you? That I would condemn him to a weekend of boredom when I could take him along? That I would abandon him to the grey days of this town when he could marvel at the bright lights of Vegas…”

“What if he doesn’t want to come?” I interrupted her rambling and thought what if he does come?

What if we did go to Vegas with no supervision… How would he act then?

How would he treat me then?

Could I handle a whole weekend of his flirts and teasing?

I shook my head; I knew I couldn’t. Not without responding in ways I didn’t want to…

“Weren’t you listening to me?” Val questioned impatiently. “I already said he’d arrange things with his aunt; of course he knows about Vegas and of course he is coming.”

I felt as if my heart would pound out of my chest. If I had been skeptical about the whole idea before, I was stone-set I would not go now. There was no way, and I meant absolutely no way, I was going to Las Vegas with Hunter Harris!

*****

A/N: I wish there was snow this winter! We usually have enough for me to make figures (not like Val’s!), the last few years them being cats… Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter enough to vote on it and add Hunt Me Down to your reading list if you haven’t done so already. Maybe you could even follow me? That way you’ll get notified about all my updates and schedules, including when I plan a new story or when and how long I’ll be out of town and unable to write or sick and not in shape to write…

Now for the good part: do YOU think Val will convince Nat to go to Vegas and if so, how?

Is she pushing him too hard this time?

Also, can you recommend me some Vegas-related movies for research?

I’ve already seen Last Vegas and it was awesome; I strongly recommend it!

Have a great time on wattpad, everyone :)